The Latest Rembrandt: Dutch Museum Identifies Artist of “Vision of Zacharias in the Temple”

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) has been identified as the artist of a painting missing for decades, adding another masterpiece to his impressive portfolio of religious art.

The Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands’ national art and history, announced March 2 that experts have definitively proven that Rembrandt painted the Vision of Zacharias in the Temple. The confirmation follows an extensive two-year investigation into the technique and materials used in the painting. 

Researchers originally discredited the artwork as an authentic Rembrandt in the mid-twentieth century, and the conclusion stood uncontested after the painting disappeared in 1961 when it was purchased by a private collector.

The Vision of Zacharias remained missing until its present owner approached the Rijksmuseum, which initiated a thorough investigation.

Subsequent analysis of the painting revealed that the build-up of layers matches the technique employed in other Rembrandt paintings. The age of the wooden panel also verifies the date of its creation as 1633, indicating that Rembrandt was 27 years old at the time.

The date places the Vision of Zacharias among the early works of Rembrandt’s artistic career. The painting serves as a valuable contribution to his portfolio of biblical scenes, which Sotheby’s numbered at 136 paintings in 2020.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Vision of Zacharias in the Temple, 1633. On loan from a private collection. Photo: Rene Gerritsen

Researchers Jonathan Bikker and Petria Noble recently contributed a piece about Rembrandt’s painting in The Burlington Magazine, the world's leading monthly journal of art and its history. The pair noted that Rembrandt’s depiction of Zacharias varies from the traditional rendering of the event from the Gospel of Luke.

Rather than a portrayal of the angel Gabriel as a figure visibly appearing to Zacharias, his presence is merely suggested by a subtle glow in the upper-right hand corner of the painting. 

Zacharias is dressed in the luxurious robes of the Jewish priesthood, and he stands before the altar of incense within the Temple of Jerusalem. Rembrandt captures the moment when Gabriel interrupts his act of priestly worship:

“Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense” (Luke 1:10-11, NABRE).

In the painting, Zacharias’ face expresses surprise at this heavenly vision. Gabriel then announces that Zacharias’ elderly wife will bear a son named John.

“Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John’” (Luke 1:12-13, NABRE).

Rembrandt van Rijn, Vision of Zacharias in the Temple (detail). Photo: Rijksmuseum/Kelly Schenk

Bikker and Noble suggested that “the Vision of Zacharias is an example of Rembrandt’s fascination with God speaking through dreams and visions and the effect it has on humans.”

The two experts compared the Vision of Zacharias to a contemporaneous painting by Rembrandt from 1630, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem.

“In Jeremiah’s case, it was his unfathomable melancholy. In Zacharias’s, it was his disbelief in God’s ability to grant him a son,” explained Bikker and Noble. “God’s messenger first tries to assuage Zacharias’s disbelief by revealing his identity as the Archangel Gabriel. It is the moment before he does so that Rembrandt apparently has chosen to depict in the painting. But the revelation of Gabriel’s identity is not enough and Zacharias continues to doubt, for which he was punished with the inability to speak.”

The Vision of Zacharias is on long-term loan to the Rijksmuseum and has been on public view since March 4.